Uniformed man calling for removal of politicians is not from the South African army
A video posted to social media in August 2025 shows a man in military-style uniform encouraging South Africans to march to the country's official seat of government to remove the president. Contrary to some claims, he is not a member of the South African National Defence Force, but appears to be affiliated with a fringe political movement.
"SANDF commander seeks support," reads the attention-grabbing caption of a video circulating on TikTok since August 2025.
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One TikTok post gained thousands of likes. The video was also posted to a YouTube channel with over 90,000 subscribers, with the caption: "SANDF General calls for a march to Remove ANC government."
It shows footage of a man speaking, layered onto a static background of a generic protest image, originally from a US "Women's March". It also shows a photo of South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa.
The man talking is wearing a military-style uniform and a maroon beret.
In the video, he calls on South Africans to "go to union building and demand the government to step aside" and asks "those with financial resources" to provide support "so that we can be able to advance this cause". The Union Buildings in Pretoria are the official seat of the South African government.
The man later describes his vision of a new government: "In the RMSA government, what is going to happen, we're going to have the state which will be run by the king's council. And we are going to have a government which will be controlled by the revolutionary forces."
The South African National Defence Force, or SANDF, is the country's armed forces.
Revolutionary Movement of South Africa
While users claim the man is a member of the SANDF, he mentions an "RMSA government". He is wearing a maroon beret with the emblem of the Revolutionary Movement of South Africa, a fringe political civil movement with a presence on social media.
(Source: from original YouTube video) (Source: from RMSA Facebook page)
His appearance is consistent with a large volume of photos from Facebook user Thabo Ledwaba, who is also named as the creator of the RMSA Facebook group. Someone with the same name was referred to as a representative of RMSA in a 2016 news report.
Other videos that appear to depict this man have been posted on an associated TikTok account and RMSA's YouTube channel. In these videos, the man does not claim to represent the SANDF and consistently appears as a representative of the RMSA, speaking in front of RMSA banners or wearing an RMSA beret.
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The circulating video does not appear on any official SANDF accounts, and the beret and uniform are not consistent with those worn by SANDF members.
Army 'tracing the origins' of the video
The SANDF has published a statement calling the circulating video "fake, misleading, and maliciously fabricated".
Part of the statement reads:
The individual depicted is not a recognised commander of the SANDF, and the message conveyed in the video does not reflect the position or discipline of the South African military.An internal investigation is underway to trace the origins of this video and those responsible will be pursued and prosecuted in accordance with military and civilian law.
The man is not a "commander" or "general" of the SANDF, as the social media posts claim.
Multiple outlets have since published news articles on the SANDF's statement about the video.
